“Through this new research, we will build a picture of the behaviour of our residents, including the levers that can influence positive and sustainable changes in their practices moving forward.”

Professor Wendy Umberger, Executive Director of the Centre for Global Food and Resources at the University of Adelaide, says the project will use micro-waste auditing, ongoing waste disposal monitoring technology including waste-weighing, and novel household surveys to understand behaviour from a broad-section of the community.

Typically, organic waste constitutes between 30-50% of what is placed in household landfill bins for collection. Australian’s generate 2.3 million tonnes of household food waste each year that currently goes to landfill according to the National Food Waste Baseline report.